Open casting call for “Hemingway & Gellhorn”

The HBO production “Hemingway & Gellhorn” starring Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen and being filmed almost entirely in San Francisco, is looking for some local extras.

But the open call only welcomes 18- to 40-year-old Spanish-looking, English-speaking men with fair to medium complexions, dark hair, eyes and lean physiques.

Why the narrow demographic? Extras will be portraying soldiers in 1930s Spain. To fit the part, they must be willing to be clean shaven and get a paid haircut (up to $18), if necessary.

The scenes will be filmed in Oakland on weekdays from March 9 to 21. Selected extras could potentially work all nine days but must be available on March 11, 14 and 15 from early morning to late evening.

Some of you could be in the background…

Free open calls are taking place now through Sunday, from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Beau Bonneau Casting at 84 First St. in San Francisco. Hopefuls are asked to bring at least one recent color photo. Paid ($16) wardrobe fittings begin this week.

But money shouldn’t be the main motivation to give it a shot, said Susannah Greason Robbins, executive director of the San Francisco Film Commission. It’s an opportunity to brush shoulders with the renowned director, Academy Award nominee and San Francisco native Philip Kaufman.

“This is a very exciting high profile production for any actor to be involved with,” she said. “If Phil Kaufman does more films in San Francisco, who knows — maybe he’ll spot an extra who he wants to use again in a bigger part.”

Production crews for the film, which chronicles the romance between writers Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, set up shop at Pier 80 in late August and will shoot Feb. 28 through May.

While “Hemingway & Gellhorn” isn’t the only major production in the city this month, its presence is certainly boosting the city’s economy. Filming was up 44 percent this January and February compared to the same time last year, with 56 permits and 147 days of shooting compared with 42 permits and 102 shooting days last year.

By the time the HBO production wraps up, it will have pumped more than $40 million into the local economy, Robbins estimates.

“Considering that they started in late August, that’s a good amount of money being poured into San Francisco in a little more than nine months,” she said.